ic inbox, ryslig.

[daozhangs]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, XIAO.XINGCHEN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** XIAO.XINGCHEN has joined 018.07.154.55 <XIAO.XINGCHEN> You have reached Xiao Xingchen. <XIAO.XINGCHEN> I am often away from my laptop, but I will do my best to answer as soon as I'm able.

Comments

[daozhangs]

What a coincidence - neither do I.

[legbreakings]

In conclusion: the plants are doomed.

[daozhangs]

So little faith in us.

[legbreakings]

You haven't seen me with a shovel yet.

[daozhangs]

It's quite difficult to do so now, I'm afraid.

[legbreakings]

First gardening, now terrible puns. The things I put up with.

[daozhangs]

As if you wouldn't have said the same.

[legbreakings]

All the more reason you shouldn't follow my example.

[ Gosh, don't you know he works hard to be coarse and mean and unrefined, Xingchen! ]

[daozhangs]

I'd like to think that it amuses you.

[legbreakings]

It does.

[daozhangs]

I'm glad.

( after a few moments, )

I think the garden will be fine. It's inevitable that we manage to keep something alive, and a few-dozen plants seem like our simplest bet.

[legbreakings]

I'll have you know I managed to raise a child just fine. But children are easier to keep alive than plants. They scream when they are hungry.

[daozhangs]

I didn't know that you had a child.

( as far as he'd heard, sect leader jiang was still unmarried, let alone a father - but news travels quite slowly in such a remote place as yi city, and he died a number of years before jiang wanyin was drawn here. he was once the older of the two of them, after all, even if just by a year or so. by his estimate, he's missing something like a decade. )

I have no doubt that you raised him quite well.

And perhaps we shouldn't underestimate the manner of plants which this realm has to offer.

[legbreakings]

Not my child. I have no children or wife. But I tried to help as much as I could in seeing that my sister's son was raised a proper man and not some gold-breasted peacock.

He has grown into a fine young man. I should be at his side now as he faces the greatest challenges of his life but he would understand why I need to stay and deal with the Fog God here in Ryslig before she becomes a danger to all of us. I did teach him well.

I'm convinced the plants in the forest I had to cross tried to kill me. That forest is corrupted with resentment, or rather the local counterpart of it.

[daozhangs]

( ah. yes, that does make quite a bit of sense, falling a bit more in line with that which he had heard. )

Resentment?

Is it something we should investigate?

( no offense intended to jiang wanyin or his nephew, but his cultivator senses are tingling. )

[legbreakings]

[ That's perfectly fair. It is more important, after all. ]

I would like to, yes. It could be related to the Fog God. We would have to approach Dyster, her stronghold, to see if it is the same kind of corruption. But if Lager Forest has been corrupted by her in ways the rest of the peninsula hasn't it could be relevant.

[daozhangs]

If the purpose of venturing close to Dyster is to understand how the Fog God's corruption manifests closer to the source, there's no need.

I can identify it.

[legbreakings]

I didn't know you have experience with her corruption.

We should explore Lager Forest together once the weather is better. Being out in the snow is a nightmare on my systems.

[daozhangs]

Briefly, but it isn't something one can easily forget.

If you think the situation poses little enough danger to wait for the thaw, I trust your judgment on the matter.

[legbreakings]

When? You never mentioned going to Dyster before.

From what I understand the forest has been like this for many years, waiting should make no difference now.

[daozhangs]

Not to Dyster itself, no. I met with one of the residents outside of town, a fog priest whom I've found myself on civil (if wary) terms with. I'm not certain if you've ever come face-to-face with one of her followers, but if you haven't, know that it's viscerally disconcerting.

We will wait for Spring.

[legbreakings]

You met with one of them?! Alone!

Did you get injured?

[daozhangs]

I had questions. He was willing to attempt to answer them, though he didn't succeed.

You have my word that I wasn't injured, nor did I receive anything passing for threat of injury. We spoke calmly and then parted ways.

[legbreakings]

It's still careless! They are not to be trusted.

[daozhangs]

Rest assured, at no point did I trust him.

Which is quite unlike me, isn't it? Perhaps I'm growing as a person.